Tag Archives: Spain

There are some rumours that the Asian ecommerce giant Rakuten with other investors have invested 25m euros in Barcelona-based delivery app Glovo. Both companies haven’t officially confirmed the investment. Previous big round of 5m euros Glovo raised in August 2016.Glovo is on-demand delivery app which enables that users get items they ordered in less than 1h via self-employed partners called Glovers. Company has been founded in 2015. in Barcelona and is often featured on the list of most promising Spanish apps. Glovo is currently present in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, Sevilla, Malaga, Milan, Rome and Paris but they will certainly add more cities in the nearest future. In Barcelona and Madrid they operate 24h.

Rakuten is one of the world’s biggest Internet companies, especially dominant in Asian e-commerce sector. In other parts of the world, for example in Europe, many non-tech people have first time heard about Rakuten when they became jersey sponsor of FC Barcelona. Some other notable investments and acquisitions of Rakuten include Viber, Priceminister etc.

Social Point, smartphone games developer from Barcelona, has been taken-over by Take-Two for $250 million. The transaction is a split of cash ($175 million) and shares ($75 million) with further earn-outs of up to $25.9 million. Deal is expected to be instantly create growth to net income per share, excluding items, in fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.

Take-Two is an interactive entertainment industry’s premier publishers, whose Grand Theft Auto, Civilization and BioShock are famous throughout the world for their ability to make some of the best and beloved entertainment experiences on consoles and PC. This transaction is a challenge for Take-Two, which so far has concentrated more on console and PC gaming, avoiding the mobile games market. The deal is a straight diversification play for Take-Two, and an recognition that there is a potential for it in the mobile games industry, especially in the area of free-to-play.

Social Point was founded in 2008. It employs 270 people. Two of its biggest hits have been Dragon City and Monster Legends, which together have had over 180 million downloads for iOS and Android.

The acquisition of Social Point will enable Take-Two to further diversify its business, broaden its portfolio and noticeably strengthen its position in the fast-growing free-to-play mobile gaming market.